Al-Qaeda's top bomb expert in Yemen was not killed in Feiday's drone strike on a convoy, a top Yemeni official revealed. The American drone attack killed US-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and an American propagandist, Samir Khan.

American intelligence sources had stated it appeared that bomb maker Ibrahim al-Asiri was among the dead. However, Yemeni officials have said that Asiri was not one of them.

The Saudi-born al-Asiri, 29 was related to the so-called underwear bomb that was used in an attempt to bring down a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day in 2009. The FBI pulled al-Asiri's fingerprint off that bomb. Authorities also believe he built the bombs that al-Qaeda slipped into printers and shipped to the U.S. last year.